Carrots
by ouchamagoucha
Summary: My first fic! The gang are camping in the forest for the night, but trouble is just around the corner...
1. Chapter 1

**Note from the Author: Hellooo! This is my first ever fanfic... I'm currently a bit obsessed with the new XY anime and wasn't finding enough of what I wanted to read about it, so it motivated me to write my own story. If this goes over well I'll write some more :) Looking forward to seeing what you guys think!**

"I told you, I don't know where the carrots are!" Bonnie huffed, somewhat offended at the accusation that she had hidden them. "And it doesn't matter anyway, we're having mushrooms instead." She started to hum nonchalantly as she set out the bowls on their table one by one.

Serena frowned and unrolled her sleeping bag, unconvinced by the little girl's defensiveness. She didn't feel it was her place to carry on with the matter - that would be Clemont's job. As usual, he was the one paying the price for his sister's childish actions, since he'd offered to go pick the replacement ingredient for their dinner.

The sky had turned a beautiful blazing orange and the ever decreasing visibility was already making it more difficult to set up camp. "Looks like we'll be having our dinner by candle-light". Serena chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. She looked over at Ash, who was stirring the already gently boiling pot of stew, bored out of his mind, with Pikachu snoozing on his shoulder. He never was a fan of cooking.

"Don't worry, Clemont will be back soon..." Ash paused to yawn, nearly dropping the spoon into the pot in the process. "Then we can get some well-deserved sleep."

No sooner than Ash had finished speaking, when a distant roar and a pained yell sounded from deep in the woods. The kids snapped their heads towards the location of the noise- that's where Clemont had headed not 10 minutes ago!

"Serena, look after Bonnie!" Ash shouted to the girls, immediately springing into action and heading into the thick of the woods. A sleepy Pikachu slid and fell off his shoulder, landing on the ground in a momentary daze before racing after his trainer.

Bonnie stood frozen in place, eyes wide and starting to tear up, staring as Ash disappeared into the dark of the woods, with Pikachu at his heels. Serena knelt next to the smallest of their group and placed an arm around her protectively. "It's okay, Bonnie" She said, staring anxiously ahead, not convinced by her own words.

Ash raced through the forest as fast as he could, dodging branches and thorny shrubs, his eyes squinting as he tried to adjust to the little light available. He heard another roar, this time much closer. "Clemont!" He called out, feeling his lungs start to burn from the effort.

The road ahead was getting lighter, bathed in a gentle orange glow. Ash burst into the small clearing ahead, which had caught fire in several patches. A large, angry Trevenant stood in the middle of the clearing, it's massive roots fanned out into the entirety of the visible forest floor. It was facing a steep cliff face, where it had cornered a terrified-looking Clemont. The injured inventor was wincing in pain, clutching his right shoulder and covered in scorch marks. His pokeballs were scattered out of reach, the basket of mushrooms spilled out alongside them. The trevenant angrily fired another will-o-wisp at the boy, who just barely managed to dodge it.

"HEY!" Ash yelled angrily, with Pikachu taking up a battle stance by his side. "Leave my friend alone!" "Piika Pii!" Pikachu conceded, cheeks sparking at the ready. "Ash!" Clemont's face lit up in relief, which quickly turned to dread as the Trevenant turned around, spotting the duo. "Look out!" The Trevenant, furious at the appearance of more invaders in it's territory, lunged towards them. Ash reacted quickly. "Pikachu, use iron tail!" He shouted, and his companion immediately leaped up to attack, only to be promptly batted away by a thick root. Ash gasped, diving forward to catch Pikachu and hitting the ground, hard. "What-?!" The attacking pokemon had mobilized it's roots, ensnaring them both.

During the chaos, Clemont had slowly, gingerly moved forward, trying to make a break for it and pick up his pokeballs while the Trevenant was distracted. He had just managed to get to one when the Trevenant grabbed him with a giant clawed arm, pinning his arms to his side. Clemont was squeezed on his burned shoulder and cried out in pain, dropping the pokeball.

"CLEMONT!" Ash called out, struggling to break free from the tight grip of the angry living tree, unable to summon more of his pokemon to assist them. Pikachu repeatedly shocked the roots to no avail, the electricity having little effect.

A confused and somewhat annoyed Chespin popped out of the fallen pokeball, irritated at being jostled about. His annoyance quickly turned to shock as he took in the situation his trainer and friends were in. With a determined expression, he unleashed a pin missile attack directly at the Trevenant's face, who instantly recoiled, loosening his grasp on Ash as it staggered backwards. Now furious, the Trevenant launched the trapped Clemont towards Chespin, throwing him against the cliff face wall with a sickening thud. Ash called out for his friend, but Clemont was quiet and still, lying face down. Chespin ran to his side, dodging the Trevenant's attacks while Ash reacted by sending out his Fletchinder. "Use Flame Charge, Fletchinder!" The bird was immediately engulfed

in flames and lunged towards the Trevenant. It quickly backed away and Fletchinder forced it deeper into the woods, far from the vulnerable humans.

Ash ran over to Clemont, who was being shaken by a worried Chespin. "Ches - che chespin?!" Ash kneelt down and gently pushed the increasingly panicking pokemon aside away, who then stood sniffling at the sight of his fallen trainer. "Clemont? Buddy, can you hear me?" There's no response, and Ash checks that he is still breathing, which thankfully, he is. Ever so slowly and gently he rolled Clemont over to his side, wincing as he found that the side of his friends' head was matted with blood, and his glasses were cracked on the same side. Clemont needed help, as soon as possible, but they were hours away from the nearest Pokecenter.

Fletchinder returned, landing by his trainers' side, looking at the humans with concern. "Fletchinder, go get Serena and Bonnie - we need help!" The bird pokemon immediately took off towards the direction of their camp. "Keep an eye on Clemont, okay Chespin?" He tried to keep a brave face as he spoke to the stunned, teary pokemon. Chespin silently nodded and nestled against Clemont's side.

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Ash looked towards where Fletchinder had headed, the clearing already starting to darken as the small fires were fading out. "Hurry up, guys..." He said softly, and started to gather suitable branches to make a stretcher.


	2. Chapter 2

**Update: Decided to keep this one short to finish it sooner - I might just make a series of short stories focused on Clemont in each chapter from here on. **

The next morning, Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Pikachu were asleep in the Pokecenter lobby, where they had collapsed with exhaustion after bringing Clemont to be treated the night before. Nurse Joy gently nudged Serena, who stirred and rubbed her eyes. Pikachu stirred and yawned, looking up at her.

"Good morning." Nurse Joy smiled at her. "Your friend is awake now, and asking for you all." She looked at them sympathetically, sorry to have had to wake them up - the kids were exhausted after the previous nights' ordeal.

"Oh!" Serena beamed, fully awake now. "Thank you!" She jumped up, and woke up the others, who were just as excited at the news.

They burst into the room where Clemont was being kept. He was sitting up, eyed half-open and seeming tired through his cracked lenses. He now had a bandage on side of his head and a couple of scratches on his face. On his other side, his shoulder was patched up where he had been burned. "Hi guys..." He smiled when they walked in, though with a somewhat sheepish expression. It was embarrassing to be the focus of attention in this way, but he was very happy to have awoken in a safe place and that his friends and sister were okay. When he'd woken up, he had panicked when he realized he was alone.

"Big brother!" Bonnie ran and leaped onto the bed, hugging him tightly. Clemont winced but didn't pull away, hugging her back with his good arm. "I was so worried... I'm so sorry..." She sniffled, burying her face into his chest.

Ash and Serena walked over and stood by them, expressing similar remarks of relief, happy to be reunited and safe once again.


End file.
